Professional League of Legend Player Hai Lam Retires Due to Injury

"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die..." This is probably what League of Legends (no pun intended) professional gamer Hai Lam is probably thinking right now as the captain of Cloud9 has just announced that he is retiring from the professional gaming circuit.

When a professional in any field retires, it is usually a time of celebration. The person is remembered for their accomplishments, their feats and is able to look back on a (hopefully) long career of doing something that they loved. However, most people retire late in life and Lam is only 22 years old. And when you hear the reasoning behind the decision your heart will go out to him.

Cloud9 is considered one of the best US eSports teams for the game League of Legends, an online muliplayer battle arena game, so it is a great shock for the gaming community, especially those fans loyal to the game, to hear that Lam is retiring. Lam explained his decision on the team's official Cloud9 blog.

In a post, Lam explains: "My wrist injury is something that I simply cannot ignore. It limits my ability to play as much as I need to and my ability to improve. I cannot keep up with the amount of Solo Queue games my teammates play and it's not fair to them. At best, my wrist injury would have only allowed me to play for another split and that wasn't even certain."

It is sad to see someone so young forced to retire from something they are so passionate about and something that they have actually made a career out of doing. Tendinitis and carpal tunnel are common by-products of professional gamers and there are even brand names for certain injuries, like Nintendo Thumb.  

Injuries take athletes out of their prime all too often and the professional gaming circuit is no exception. While it's sad to see someone like Lam retire at such a young age it is good to see him making himself and his physical health a priority.

Content originally published here